Surgical staplers have been used in the prior art to simultaneously make a longitudinal incision in tissue and apply lines of staples on opposing sides of the incision. Such instruments commonly include a pair of cooperating jaw members that, if the instrument is intended for endoscopic or laparoscopic applications, are capable of passing through a cannula passageway. One of the jaw members is configured to receive a staple cartridge equipped with laterally spaced rows of staples. The other jaw member commonly comprises an anvil that has staple-forming pockets formed therein that are aligned with the rows of staples in the cartridge. Various cartridges have wedges that, when driven distally through the cartridge, engage drivers upon which the staples are supported to effect the firing of the staples toward the anvil.
In use, a clinician opens and closes the jaw members of the stapler to position and clamp the tissue therein prior to firing. Once the clinician has determined that tissue is properly clamped in the jaw members, the instrument is activated or “fired” to thereby cut and simultaneously staple the tissue on each side of the cut. The simultaneous severing and stapling avoids complications that may arise when performing such actions sequentially with different surgical tools that respectively only cut or staple.
When employing such cutting and severing instruments, however, the clinician must properly position the tissue to be cut within the end effector before firing the device. This task may be complicated due to the location of the tissue and/or the position of the end effector within the body cavity.
Consequently, a significant need exists for an improved end effector that is configured to provide the clinician with an indication of the position of the tissue within the end effector.